Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Granola Bars – Gluten and Dairy Free

Crunchy pretzels, creamy chocolate, nutty and chewy bars. The most amazing energy bars ever! I posted them a few months ago but the picture was bad and I made a few more changes. An especially important ingredient I added this time was some coarsely ground sea salt. It, along with the crispy pretzels create a pretty amazing flavor! The mix of oat flour and quick oats hold it together nicely without creating a boring texture. I changed the chocolate topping so it firms up better, making them much more portable. Now, just a side note that I want to mention. The first picture has huge bars. That is just to show how pretty they are. We do NOT actually eat bars that large for a snack! These bars are incredibly filling because they are full of oats, protein powder, and nuts! Plus, they freeze beautifully, though I do recommend defrosting them in the refrigerator so that the pretzels do not get soggy. Once again, this recipe is heavily, heavily, HEAVILY adapted from ‘Running with Spoons’.

Ingredients:

Gluten free pretzels, pulsed in a food processor or blender until they are in small bits (I used Glutino)

½ cup

Natural peanut butter (I used chunky this time and it tastes pretty amazing, but both chunky and smooth work.)

1/3 cup

Honey

2 teaspoons

Pure vanilla extract, divided

½ teaspoon

Coarse sea salt

2 tablespoons

Nondairy milk (I have used almond, cashew, and soy creamer)

6 tablespoons

DF chocolate chips

Directions:

Step 1: Grease a nine by five loaf pan with spray oil.Step 2: In a small mixing bowl, combine both oats, protein powder, and pretzel bits.Step 3: In a microwave safe bowl, stir honey, peanut butter, and 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract. Microwave it for about a minute and stir. Keep microwaving in short bursts, stirring in between, until the peanut butter mix is hot.Step 4: Add the peanut butter mixture to the oat mixture, and stir to combine. I like to use my hands because is a little hard to get it combined with a spoon. Mixture should hold together well.Step 5: Press into loaf pan.Step 6: Pour the milk, chocolate, and the remaining vanilla into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for one minute, stir, and microwave in thirty second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth and silky.Step 7: Pour the chocolate onto the bars, and smooth it with a spatula.Step 8: Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour, or until chocolate is set.Step 9: Use a sharp knife to slice the bars into the desired size.